Trapping Still Open

In the past, we’ve written very little about trapping. Mostly because I have yet to get into this sport. But it clearly is an interesting hobby.

Check out the article sent in by alert reader from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Lynch, a Pennsylvania Game Commission employee, is one of 7,000 Pennsylvanians with trapping licenses, and is among the sport’s most evangelical supporters.

“People don’t realize what overpopulation of animals like foxes, beavers, raccoons, muskrats, even minks around this area means,” says Lynch. “A beaver is the biggest rodent you will find and will raze a tree in a day. A fox could bring rabies. Other animals will eat crops. They are not endangered and are sometimes just a nuisance.”

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He said the fox-trapping season will last a few more weeks, mostly because the foxes are still mating. He normally sets two traps relatively near each other, since the supposition is that if a female is in one place, a male will be nearby. The traps on his neighbor’s farm are on a ridge near a pond, where foxes might stop.

Fox trapping does not end “in several weeks”. All trapping, except beaver, ends on Feb. 17th. A fox trapper would have a heck of a time preparing a dirt hole set right now. I was not aware of Ned Smith’s trapping book, but would like to borrow it sometime Erik. BTW, who is the lucky hunter on February VOICE OF THE WILD cover?